Sweeney wary of 'catastrophic impact' if crisis extends into 2021
Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney has described the prospect of the sport being postponed into 2021 as "catastrophic".
Sweeney was giving evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on sport and said rugby union in EnglandwouldneedaGovernment bailout if next year's Six Nations could not be played.
"That would be catastrophic, 85 per cent of our income comes form hosting men's internationalgamesatTwickenham," he said.
"Twickenham is a major asset for us. When you own a stadium it is a major cost and atthesametimebringsinlarge revenue. If this was to be prolonged and the Six Nations games were impacted, then it wouldbeacatastrophicimpact onrugbyunioninEngland.We would be looking at some very severe situations.
"We would like to thank the Government for what was put in place very quickly. If we are one of the last cabs off the rank because of the contact and characteristics, we would need extra help.
"We have 60 per cent of our staff furloughed. If Six Nations matches are off in 2021 then there would be a limit in what wecoulddoandwewouldhave togototheGovernmentforextra support."
This year's Six Nations is pencilledintobecompletedin October and November, with Englandduetoplayautumninternationals
afterwards.
However, that could still be in doubt and Sweeney says the governing body will lose £107million if they are cancelled. He said: "If the autumn internationals go ahead in November,
which are key for us, we will still lose £32million in revenue. If they go ahead but behind closed doors that is a negative impact of £85m and if they are cancelled entirely that will be £107m on top of the £15m we have already lost.
"So it is a very significant loss of revenue and we are doing what we can to mitigate it."
Sweeneyalsosaidthatsport could take up to six years to recover from the financial impact of the crisis.
"Our financial model is strong. Owning Twickenham is good for us and we are not spending money that we don't have to spend," he said.
"Wehaveimplementedcost reductions that allowed us to claw back £13m but that has gone now.
"It is not going to be a shortterm issue, we are looking at a four-, five-, six-year recovery plan."